Administrators detail Project SEARCH, paraeducator training and Mitten virtual library; ask for sustained funding

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and Department of Education heard updates from the Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education (MACE) on multiple special-education workforce and program initiatives that have been funded through state categorical allocations.

Abby Seifer, executive director of MACE, introduced a suite of programs funded in recent state budgets (often referenced in the hearing as "27J" funding) that MACE and partner organizations have used to support building leaders, paraeducators, special-education teachers and transitional programs for young adults with disabilities.

Project SEARCH, a one-year school-to-work internship program operating in hospital and business settings, was highlighted by statewide Project SEARCH directors Sarah Winslow and Michael Zipsak. Winslow said Project SEARCH places students in three internships inside partner businesses and reported that about "85% of the interns in Michigan have found employment," with interns averaging about 25 hours per week and earning minimum wage or higher. She said roughly 33% of partner businesses hire interns after the program and that Michigan is…